Poppin' Mango Flies

            If you have been an avid follower of this blog, then you probably recall me mentioning mango flies.  For those that have forgotten, let me refresh your memory.  Mango flies will sometimes lay their eggs in your clothing while it is hanging outside to dry.  The eggs hatch upon contact with skin, and the larvae burrow into the skin and develop into fully grown maggots.  In order to avoid these pesky flies, it is advised that you iron all of your clothing.   The thought of maggots in my skin terrifies me, so I have been adamant about ironing all of my clothes.  A part of me, however, did wonder if mango flies were an actual problem…until now.  Over the weekend, I met up with Bethany, Joe, and John in Mbale.  John asked us, “Do you all want to see the weird bite I got at Joe’s house?”  He raises his arm and there is a boil like spot that is black in the middle – characteristic of a mango fly.  Joe says, “Uh, I think that’s a mango fly.”  Naturally, John freaks out, while the rest of us proceed to check it out and take pictures:

Mango fly bite

            Since we are Peace Corps Volunteers and have been in Uganda far too long, we thought the proper thing to do next was pop out the maggot.  I should probably mention we were in Chat n Chino, an mzungu restaurant in Mbale; neither an ideal nor very appropriate place for popping out a mango fly.  We, however, have been in the village far too long and did not think twice about popping out a maggot in front of other patrons.  We also disinfected with Purell because that's all we had.  Now here is the proper way to pop out a mango fly:

1.     Make sure someone is there to film this because you are going to want to cherish this moment forever.  Thankfully, I had my iPhone and was able to document the whole adventure.

2.     Put Vaseline or clear nail polish over the red bump in order to suffocate the maggot.  It will then proceed to try and wriggle itself out.

3.     Wait a few minutes and then squeeze the maggot out like you are popping a pimple.  If it’s being stubborn, then use a needle to pull out the little bugger.

4.     Let out a sigh of relief…you are now maggot free.

5.     START IRONING YOUR CLOTHES.

I know you are all dying to see this adventure.  Sorry for the poor video quality, but I didn't want to sit here all day.  When I return to the US I'll show it to all of you in high def.  You can click on the video to watch it via youtube and make it full screen: 

 

            Coming home from Mbale that day was also quite eventful.  I was sitting in the front, middle seat of the taxi, which is usually right on top of the engine.  While we were driving my seat started to get hot, but I did not think much of it because I know this can happen sometimes.  I ignored it until it started to become a little unbearable, and I told the driver that the seat was getting hotter than usual.  He looked over, and then we both realized the seat was starting to smoke.  He pulled over; the conductor in the back seat jumped out, opened the door and pulled me and the other passenger out of the front.  The driver lifted up the seats to see the engine and a small fire was starting.  He had a jerry can ready and he poured water on the engine in order to put out the fire and cool it down.  He then put the seats back down and motioned for us to get back in.  I looked at the other passenger with my eyebrows raised and we both laughed and shrugged our shoulders.  I got back in the taxi like this was perfectly normal and no big deal.  After all, this is Uganda and anything goes.  As they say here, “there is no problem.”  We drove for a couple of meters and then the driver pulled over again and he sent the conductor to refill the jerry can from the swamp.  He returned, and we were instructed to get out of the taxi again.  The driver filled the coolant tank with water and then told us to get back in the taxi.  All I could think the rest of the ride home was, “Wow, I hope there isn’t another fire.  I really like these jeans I’m wearing and I don’t want to burn a hole in the butt.”

            This past week was uneventful because the students were slow to trickle into school and the teachers are still on strike.  Things are continuing to get worse here in Uganda, the exchange rate is now 3,000 shillings to the dollar.  It was 2,300 when we arrived!  Food and gas prices continue to rise, and teachers are still only making around 173,000 shillings a month.  That’s just over $50!!  It is rumored that the strike will end sometime this week, but anything goes.  I am going to keep myself busy by going to the health clinic and working on the resource room. 

            On Sunday, I invited my neighbors’ kids over to watch a movie on my computer because I have a bunch of Disney movies on my external hard drive.  We watched the Lion King, and I thought the kids were going to die of excitement.  The only television they watch here is the news and Spanish soap operas that are dubbed in English.  (Only some of my neighbors have televisions and they only get a few channels because they use the bunny ears).  After the movie, they went home and then came back twenty minutes later and asked if they could watch Simba again. While it was a very cute request, I had to say no (I don’t want to set a bad precedent of allowing them to come over all the time to watch TV).  I told them that on Sundays, when I am around, I will have them over for a movie day.  I have a feeling that I will be watching a lot of Lion King because I am not sure they really understand that I have other movies to watch.  Ah, but there is no problem :)

This bug was in our hotel at Lweza.  We don't know what it was, but it was gross!